Large-Scale Artwork Celebrating Transgender Visibility Unveiled on National Mall
Celebrating Identity and Resilience: “Freedom To Be” Quilt Installation on the National Mall
A powerful tribute to transgender joy, resilience, and visibility unfolded beneath the open sky on May 17, 2025, as nearly 260 quilt panels were unfurled on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. The installation, titled “Freedom To Be,” was organized by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and served as both a creative expression and a protest — a vibrant visual chorus affirming the humanity and dignity of transgender people amid a national environment increasingly hostile to LGBTQ+ rights.
Inspired by History, Fueled by Urgency
“Freedom To Be” draws inspiration from the historic NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, which debuted on the National Mall in 1987 to commemorate those lost to HIV/AIDS at a time of widespread societal indifference. Just as the AIDS quilt gave a face to grief and activism, the “Freedom To Be” installation brings visibility to a community under threat, especially as the ACLU challenges laws such as Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming healthcare.
Each six-by-six-foot quilt panel depicts personal expressions of identity, family, memory, and hope. Contributors from 35 states and Washington, D.C., participated in the project, creating their panels in diverse spaces: from church basements and community centers to cultural institutions like the Brooklyn Museum.
Art as Activism: Personal Stories Woven into Fabric
Alexander Brodie Switzer, a transgender man and founder of the nonprofit Valid USA in Tucson, Arizona, created one of the panels. His quilt is deeply personal, featuring a painted self-portrait with his two dogs at the beach — an homage to the moment he first took off his shirt in public following top surgery. Etched along the bottom is a timeline chronicling key milestones in his gender journey, including legally obtaining a male marker on his passport and adopting his beloved pets.
Switzer has long been engaged in activism through Valid USA, distributing chest binders to youth in need. But faced with shifting political landscapes and threats to LGBTQ+ organizations and healthcare providers, he is packing his life into an RV, heading toward “blue states” in search of greater security and the ability to continue serving his community.
Like Switzer, Russ Toomey — a University of Arizona professor and activist — could not attend the quilt unveiling in person. A past litigant against Arizona’s restrictive healthcare laws, Toomey worked alongside his family to create a panel featuring outlines of their arms curved like Saguaro cacti — an enduring symbol of community strength borne from the desert.
“The Saguaro survives because it’s rooted in mutual support,” Toomey said. “That’s how we do it — we hold each other up.”
Art as Healing and Collective Resistance
For many contributors, the quilt was an avenue to process emotion, assert identity, and forge connection. Courn Ahn, a Portland-based graphic designer and illustrator, included floral motifs on their panel symbolizing growth and transition. Ahn described the creative process as cathartic and emphasized the importance of expressing joy as a form of resilience.
“Freedom for trans folks is the freedom to be everywhere and anywhere as our authentic selves without limit,” Ahn shared.
The Vision and Legacy
The installation’s mastermind, Abdool Corlette, head of brand at the ACLU, described “Freedom To Be” as a legacy project — a continuation of the spirit of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. While the latter memorialized lives lost, this new iteration celebrates lives lived and insists on the right to exist with dignity and freedom.
“We are giving folks the opportunity to memorialize their very real lives,” said Corlette. “Even as there are efforts across this country to erase them from all aspects of public life, creating joy is just as important as resisting.”
As states remove or restrict access to gender-affirming care, and as legal battles rise to protect the rights of LGBTQ+ individuals, “Freedom To Be” stands tall as a temporary monument with lasting impact. It reminds us that art is not only a means of self-expression but also an act of political defiance and healing.
A Message to the Future
As Switzer embarks on his nomadic journey, he leaves behind more than just a quilt square. His story — and those of every artist who contributed — compels audiences to remember that today’s trans youth can grow into thriving, empowered trans adults, given the chance. Their presence, embodied in patchwork and paint, is a declaration of life against a backdrop of erasure.
“We are still here,” these quilts proclaim. “We are living, loving, evolving — and we are free to be.”
In a time of widespread uncertainty and regression, the “Freedom To Be” installation offers not only awareness and affirmation, but hope — patch by patch, human by human.